Wife of dead SeaWorld worker sues park

By Neal Morton

Published 9:51 pm, Monday, July 8, 2013

SAN ANTONIO - The wife of an air-conditioning specialist who died at SeaWorld San Antonio nearly a year ago sued the theme park last week, claiming her husband did not receive enough training to prevent his death.

Days after Ricardo Corpus was electrocuted while working on an air-conditioning unit, his daughter told the San Antonio Express-News that she considered the incident "just a bad mistake."

But his wife's lawsuit claims SeaWorld did not provide its employees with proper training or safety equipment.

SeaWorld "knew of the dangers of working in an energized environment," the lawsuit reads. SeaWorld "failed to implement safety training, provide personal protective equipment to its employees like Mr. Corpus and failed to provide specialized tools."

Representatives of the theme park declined to comment.

In late August, a co-worker who was with Corpus on the roof of the park's break-room building said they briefly turned off the power to repair an air-conditioning unit before switching it back on.

As Corpus checked on the unit, his co-worker saw a puff of smoke and went to check on him. The co-worker said he found Corpus with his right arm inside the unit, electricity still flowing through him, then pulled him away and called for medical service.

Corpus was about to be flown to a hospital when he died.

David Harris, a Corpus Christi attorney who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Teresa Corpus, declined to answer questions about the case.

"Right now Ms. Corpus is really hoping to get some answers, and we are doing everything in our power to help her during this trying time," Harris wrote in an email.